Matching Gifts
by attackonhunter
Summary: Kanekane Week: Day 3 and 4: Matching Sweaters and Dualism. Kaneki was always a target for bullies when Shiro wasn't around. But, when he showed up, there was a price to pay.
1. Chapter 1

**Matching Gifts**

Hide balanced a pencil on his upper lip, scrunching his face. Shiro and Kaneki were late for meeting him for lunch again. He hoped nothing bad happened.

Soon, they appeared and Hide got his answer. Shiro came through the door first, the fury of a thousand suns burning in his eyes. Hides eyes trailed down to his knuckles and found them haphazardly bandaged, blood seeping through the seams and staining the material. Kaneki followed soon after, his palms more neatly bandaged and a small bandage on his chin. He kept his head down, shuffling his feet and looking about nervously.

"…_Shiro…_" Hide whined, throwing up his hands. "If you keep getting into fights you're never going to get into a good high school!"

Shiro grumbled, sinking down in a seat on one side of Hide, while Kaneki went to the other.

"Okay. What happened this time?" He wrapped an arm around each twin, drawing them in. He gently pated Kaneki's hair in comfort.

"The usual." Shiro murmured and Hide nodded. Kaneki was always a target for bullies when Shiro wasn't around. But, when he showed up there was always a price to pay.

"Are you alright, Kaneki?" Hide caught his cheek, turning it to observe his damaged chin.

Kaneki nodded and Shiro glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. Kaneki was going to tell him that he was fine, but when he lifted his hand to his chin, he accidently touched the sore spot and flinched. Shiro sighed.

"And you?" Hide's eyes were staring into Shiro's intently.

Shiro grinned, splitting the just closed cut on his lip. He cursed viciously, whipping his white shirt in vain, trying to remove the small splatter.

"Here." Hide murmured. "I bought these today, and was planning to give you guys them for the holidays… but I guess you can have them now." Hide dug through his backpack and pulled out two plastic bags. He tossed one to Shiro and the other to Kaneki. Shiro caught his, while Kaneki's landed in his lap as he startled. Shiro was the first to unwrap his and his brows furrowed when a large piece of fabric unraveled. "Well? Try it on."

Both Kaneki and Shiro put on their new sweaters. They were quite large on both of them, with enough room for the boys to grow for years to come. Hide hoped the sweaters would last that long. They did look nice on them. They were black and soft. Shiro's had an 'S' stitched on the front, while Kaneki's had a 'K'.

Hide sat back, pleased with himself. "Cute."

"What did you say?"

"_Nothing!"_


	2. Chapter 2

**Matching Gifts Prequel**

Kaneki gasped in pain as he hit the ground. He fell, using his palms brace himself and they scraped painfully across the gravel. Still, his effort was in vain, as his chin clipped the ground. He heard laughter around him as a toe nudged him in the ribs. He rolled away from the kicked aimed at him and landed on his back, scrambling back from the three people surrounding him. Their faces were twisted in amusement, only a touch of uncertainty and regret painfully hidden underneath.

The leader lifted his foot with a cruel grin. Suddenly, there was a blur off movement and the boy was knocked off his feet. Shiro fell to the ground on top of the aggressor, grunting quietly as a stray elbow knocked him in the mouth, making his teeth slice into his bottom lip.

The other two turned tail and ran as Shiro punched the boy below him, splitting his knuckles. After two or three punches the boy below Shiro seemed to have enough, stopping with his useless attempt to land a hit on Shiro and he held up his hands, apologies spilling continuously from his mouth.

Shiro numbly got off the boy, glaring at him like a rabid dog as the bully stumbled after his friends. Harsh breaths ripped through his clenched teeth, a thin trail of blood running down to his chin. As soon as the boy was out of sight, it was if a spell was broken. Shiro's shoulders relaxed as he exhaled slowly, facing softening as he turned to Kaneki.

"Are you okay?" He walked over and held a hand out to Kaneki, pulling him up gently when Kaneki took the offer. He felt Kaneki wince and examined his palm, carefully turning it over before returning to Kaneki's chest. "Let's go get this looked after," he said as he turned Kaneki's chin with his index finger, examining it.

They retreated back into the school, carefully keeping out of sight of the watchful eyes of the teachers. They stopped by Shiro's locker, where he retrieved his backpack. He guided Kaneki to the nearby bathroom with a palm on his back.

"Here." Shiro motioned Kaneki closer as he pulled a few items out of the bag: some antiseptic whips and various types of bandages. Kaneki winced as Shiro cleaned his hands, and especially when he cleaned his chin, the pain to the sensitive skin bringing tears to his eyes. He was thankful when it was over and Shiro finished bandaging the wounds.

Shiro cleaned himself up quickly and not nearly as carefully as he did with Kaneki. "Let's go. Hide will get anxious if we keep him waiting for too long."


End file.
